June 2012 Briefing - Pulmonology

Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Pulmonology for June 2012. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.

Supreme Court Upholds Health Care Reform Law

THURSDAY, June 28 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Supreme Court voted June 28 to uphold the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which has been the subject of debate and multiple lawsuits since its 2010 inception.

THURSDAY, June 28 (HealthDay News) -- A three-month supervised exercise training program improves daily walking time, quadriceps force, six-minute walking distance, physical functioning, and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure for lung transplant patients who experience an uncomplicated postoperative period, according to research published in the June issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.

WEDNESDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking, head injury, pesticide exposure, and farming are potential environmental and lifestyle risk factors for developing idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), according to research published online June 27 in Neurology.

WEDNESDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- The federal government spends a substantial and increasing amount on individuals who are dually enrolled in separate managed care programs (the Veterans Affairs health care system [VA] and Medicare Advantage plan [MA]), according to a study published online June 26 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with presentation at the Annual Research Meeting of AcademyHealth, held from June 24 to 26 in Orlando, Fla.

TUESDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- Use of electronic health records (EHRs) is associated with fewer medical malpractice claims among physicians from multiple surgical and medical specialties, according to a research letter published online June 25 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

TUESDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- Regional anesthesia is associated with a lower risk of death and pulmonary complications compared with general anesthesia in patients undergoing surgery for hip fracture, with improved outcomes specific to patients with intertrochanteric fractures, according to a study published in the July issue of Anesthesiology.

MONDAY, June 25 (HealthDay News) -- Ozone exposure in healthy young adults causes an increase in vascular markers of inflammation, changes in fibrinolytic markers that could potentially impair fibrinolysis, and changes in autonomic control of heart rate, according to a study published online June 25 in Circulation.

MONDAY, June 25 (HealthDay News) -- Compared with lean patients, obese patients with asthma have higher neutrophil counts and a reduced response to corticosteroid treatment, according to a study published online June 12 in Allergy.

FRIDAY, June 22 (HealthDay News) -- A telehealth intervention is associated with improved emergency admission rates and lower mortality compared with usual care, according to a study published online June 21 in BMJ.

THURSDAY, June 21 (HealthDay News) -- Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is independently associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, even after adjustment for potential confounders, according to a study published online June 21 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

THURSDAY, June 21 (HealthDay News) -- About half of residents have worked while sick, with many reporting feeling obligated to colleagues and patients, according to a research letter published online June 18 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

TUESDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), fatigue is significantly associated with disease severity, and predicts the risk of hospitalization, according to a study published online June 14 in the European Respiratory Journal.

MONDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- For adults without diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity is independently associated with impaired glucose metabolism, as measured by glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, according to a study published online June 11 in Diabetes Care.

WEDNESDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- A woman who was treated with stereotactic body-radiation therapy (SBRT) for two non-metastasized non-small-cell lung cancers died from fatal central-airway necrosis, according to a case report published in the June 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

TUESDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- A survey of mid-career academic physician researchers shows that gender differences in salary exist even after adjusting for differences in specialty, institutional characteristics, academic productivity, academic rank, and work hours, according to a study published in the June 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

MONDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- In utero smoke exposure is associated with poor asthma control and early-onset asthma in children assessed at 8 to 17 years of age, according to a study published in the June issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

THURSDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) -- Every year, more than half a million hospitalized U.S. adults acquire venous thromboembolism (VTE), a growing public health concern that is often preventable, according to research published in the June 8 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report.

WEDNESDAY, June 6 (HealthDay News) -- About one in 10 patients with tuberculosis in China has multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis; and a new drug, delamanid, is significantly better than placebo for increasing sputum-culture conversion at two months in patients with MDR tuberculosis, according to two studies published in the June 7 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

TUESDAY, June 5 (HealthDay News) -- Higher exposure to traffic pollutants and obesity increase the likelihood of poor asthma control in older adults, according to a study published in the June issue of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

FRIDAY, June 1 (HealthDay News) -- Smokers with certain high-risk genetic variants find it more difficult to quit smoking but are more likely to respond to cessation pharmacotherapy, according to a study published online May 30 in the American Journal of Psychiatry.